Spring Decor Ideas + Home Update

If you follow me on Instagram then you know we bought our new “forever’ home in January and are in the process of renovating it. We purchased it knowing that the house was a fixer upper and excited for the opportunity to make it our own! You can follow the entire renovation process and fun home-related content on our dedicated Instagram and TikTok: @homebytherussells. If you want to know why we decided to move, I shared about it in this blog post: Guest Bathroom Makeover with Anewall + Life Update

The renovation of our new home will be done in phases: phase 1 is all of the essential things (for the most part) that need to be done so we can live in it, phase 2 will include renovating both upstairs bathrooms, phase 3 will be our more long-term goal to update the kitchen. The kitchen was thankfully updated in recent years which was a huge savings for us! Most kitchen renovations will run between $30,000-$50,000 on their own. However, the updates the previous owner did weren’t totally our style so we would like to modify the current kitchen within the next 5 years. We can do little adjustments until we’re ready to do that!

The “essential” renovations we are doing to the home include some cosmetic things and some structural adjustments to make it more comfortable. Here is the list of our phase 1 renovations:

removing textured ceiling that tested positive for asbestos (watch my ‘asbestos” IG stories highlight for info on why/how we did this)
replacing/repairing ceiling drywall where necessary
updating all flooring, including replacing carpet with hardwoods downstairs
removing paneling in the dining room and den, replacing with drywall
replacing all windows in the den and attached half bath
opening the wall between the front sitting room and dining room
widening the opening of the primary bathroom (it was very narrow)
sealing and painting all walls and ceilings (seal is to help remove any remaining odor from cigarette smoke)
updating light fixtures, floor registers and door hardware
refreshing the pantry
replacing the front door and sidelights

PHEW that’s a long list! Haha! And I’m sure there will be more things that change along the way. One question I always get is: aren’t you stressed?!

The answer: not really. At least, not as of right now. By the time we closed on this house we knew what changes needed to happen so that we could move in and understood roughly what it would cost us. The contractor we chose to work with is very detail-oriented, so we have been able to track our expenses down to the penny and understood that as we progressed in demo we needed to be able to shift expectations in case something major came up (i.e. water damage we hadn’t previously known about, issues with flooring, etc).

We’re just doing our best to take everything in stride, be flexible with our needs and practice patience. For example, we originally had a grand idea to expand our pantry and totally re-do the plumbing in the powder room off the kitchen. However, when we realized the den was going to need more drywall work than we anticipated and found some electrical issues that need to be addressed, we decided to eliminate those projects from the scope so we could make sure the den was done right.

The hardest part of it all is being patient. As we have planned, shopped quotes and started ordering materials we’ve come to the conclusion that a big part of renovations is “hurry up and wait.” Before we even started demo we were hustling to get every inspection done, meet with multiple contractors and get every quote we could think of, and mulling over our project scope over and over and over again. Meanwhile our house just sat there waiting! That’s why when we were finally able to start demo inside the house and tackle the landscaping it felt SO GOOD! It was like after all of this build-up we could finally take action that was physical proof we were moving forward in our timeline.

As our new home is starting to take shape, I can’t help but think of how I want to decorate. I know we’ll be in the market for some new furniture, lighting and decor. We also have a few DIY projects! As we shop and save ideas, I want to share everything with you through shopping guides and my Pinterest boards. If you’re not following my Pinterest, you can find all of my home-related boards here.

Below are some of my recent home decor finds! Are there specific things you’re looking for? Please comment on this post or shoot me a DM to let me know!